A cure that lasts: scientists close in on stubborn bacterial vaginosis

For millions of women, bacterial vaginosis keeps coming back no matter what — the most common vaginal condition of reproductive age. Monash University researchers, building on their 2025 New England Journal of Medicine breakthrough (treating male partners cuts recurrence by over 60%), have now worked out why some women relapse anyway: two separate routes, re-infection and bacteria that survive treatment. Published in The Lancet's obstetrics journal, the finding opens the way to tailored antibiotic combinations aimed at a lasting cure.